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View Full Version : Are there any Muslim Historians out there?



SicilianVespers
02-11-2004, 14:27
I am not sure if anyone will be able to answer this, but here goes....

How high could Arabic speaking Christians rise in social status withing the Fatamid Caliphate?

In doing some reasearch for a mod I have been working on, I learned that Gawhar As-Siqilli (the Sicilian) was a Sicilian convert who rose to great power in the Fatamid Caliphate. He conquered north Africa, and moved the capital of the Caliphate to Cairo, which he founded. He was the Vizier, and is considered the second founder of the Fatamid Caliphate.

Now, I have been finding Islamic governors in North Africa with Christian first names. Yanus As-Siqilli in Tripoli, and Bassil As-Siqilli in Cyrenaica. Would it be possible for Christians to rise to this level, or are they converts that kept their Christian names?

It is my understanding that there was a large Christian Sicilian element in the Fatamid Army that invaded Eygpt, but could they have been made governors by a converted Sicilian Vizier?